Ms. Etta Rosales Is Using the CHR to Violate CARHRIHL
and Derail the GPH-NDFP Peace Negotiations
Fidel V. Agcaoili
Chairperson,
NDFP Monitoring Committee
April 28, 2011
Mr. Fidel V. Agcaoili, Chairperson of the Human Rights Monitoring Committee (HRMC) of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), today lambasted the attempt of the Government of the Philippines (GPH, formerly the GRP) to derail the peace negotiations through the malicious antics of Ms. Etta Rosales, Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
"Ms. Rosales has been maliciously using her office to blatantly violate the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in an attempt to derail the peace negotiations between the GPH and the NDFP," Agcaoili said.
Earlier, Rosales had allowed the CHR to participate in the arbitrary exclusion of more than 2,000 successful plaintiffs in the Human Rights Case in the US against the Marcos Estate. "Etta has used the GPH's Commission on Human Rights to perpetrate the unjust scheme of denying the victims of their rightful claim to the Marcos estate. She has not only violated the victims' human rights but has also trampled upon the CARHRIHL that has provided for a fair and equitable distribution of the proceeds of the court case," Agcaoili commented.
"Now, Etta has again used the CHR to absolve the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) of the kidnapping, illegal arrest and detention, and torture of Fil-Am activist Melissa Roxas and to scapegoat the New People's Army (NPA), without any shred of evidence. She even invoked the CARHRIHL to hold the NDFP responsible for what the AFP had done. Such grossly irresponsible behavior deserves the opprobrium of everyone, especially human rights activists worldwide," Agcaoili added.
"In the pursuit of her personal vendetta against alleged erstwhile comrades in the national democratic movement, Etta has turned the GPH's Commission on Human Rights into an inquisition arm of the Aquino regime. Her actions are bound to destroy the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations," Agcaoili concluded.
